In recent news, the Union Government has planned to set up a national power distribution company that will have a grip on the state discoms in electricity distribution activities and ensure timely implementation of central schemes.

The proposed company is said to compete with the private firms and contractors to bag contracts for appointing franchises or engineer tenders. Currently, there is no national-level distribution company, only small level distribution consultancy wings like Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), Power Grid Corporation and NTPC. The new company will act as a consultancy firm without acquiring a distribution license. This announcements also gives support to the Prime Minister’s wish to of giving power to all till the 2019 elections.

Similar to the National Tariff Policy (NTP) 2016 amendments, the draft Electricity Act is also in the process of being circulated for comments. The proposed amendments suggest separation of distribution infrastructure ownership from power supply licenses and also penalties in income for unexpected load shedding.